Mixed Methods Study Number of Participants

Jane, determining statistically valid sampling sizes is one of the greatest development tasks in study design. Before you can determine the proper sample sizes you have to identify exactly what statistical metrics and analyses you plan on performing. You have somehow come to the conclusion that a sample of 5 (n) teachers from 4 (m) schools is "more than enough for the qualitative part." How did you reach this conclusion, what metrics are you collecting, and what comparisons are you looking to make? If you are wanting to look at within school variations averaged over 4 four schools then I'm not sure 5 per school is sufficient. If you are looking at between school variations taken as an average of the four schools then I'm not sure that 4 schools are sufficient.

Also, if you are planning on doing a statistical analysis you need to take your willingness to be wrong in your conclusions (Type I error) into account in your sample size calculations.

Blessed
Oh, I'm so blessed I found you here. With your questions, I feel I need to do more reading then. Thanks, and please bear with me. I'll be posting more questions.

You lucked out, Jane, and welcome, by the way, to a2k.

JPB is the person here who know most about these matters, unless someone else has been hiding a candle.

Use of Questionnaire
I bought a book on a topic I am interested in. I found in this book a questionnaire -sort of group member skills checklist. The questionnaire was not used in any research, or else the author would have said so. I wanted to test it by way of utilizing it in a research survey.

I could not contact the author, however. Just below the questionnaire, there is a liner from the Press that says, "All rights reserved." It also says, "Reproduction authorized only for the local school site or nonprofit organization that has purchased this book."

Well, I bought this book directly from the Press even. And since the author had assigned all rights to the press, I guess I could use the questionnaire - but acknowledging the author and the press. Am I correct?